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GameCentral readers admit the longest time they’ve ever been stuck in a video game, with some gamers treading water for over a decade…

The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past – 15 years, man and boy

The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Badgerman. He asked how long you were stuck for and how you got yourself out of the problem. Did it involve cheating in any way and do you even consider using guides as unfair?As expected many people admitted to using online guides and YouTube to help them, something that was impossible back in more retro days. One or other of the The Legend Of Zelda games was the most commonly mentioned game, with 15 years being the record for being stuck.Non-consecutiveLongest time I’ve been stuck on a game is about 15 years and it was Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past on the SNES. Obviously I didn’t spend 15 years trying to crack the game I just got stuck the first time round playing it in about 1993, got frustrated with it and threw it in a box never to damage my mind again. Until about 2008 when I found it and as I still had my SNES (do these machines last forever?!) so I booted it back up and started from scratch and after a while of playing got stuck at the exact same part that I had done 15 years previously.To say I was annoyed is an understatement as I tried and tried to figure out this part without success. I would explain the part I was stuck at but I can’t fully recall it except it was in the dark area over to right hand side of the map and involved being stuck behind some blocks that I couldn’t move.Luckily for me technology had advanced to the point that after getting frustrated some more I did a FAQ guide on the Internet and got it sorted. Again I can’t remember what it was I had to do but I’m sure it was something simple so ended my link to the last curse that had hung over my head for all those years.Honestly, it was annoying at the time to get stuck then giving up and then only to find myself getting stuck at the exact same part drove me insane. Great game though – one of my all-time faves.Michael crowNo gain without painI’ve been stuck in more games than I care to remember, which is probably why I can’t remember them. That and the fact that my memory is getting more selective these days. I do remember being lost on a Covenant ship in the first Halo though. I spent hours wandering round identical purple corridors trying to find some bod or other and then again in the dreaded Library which was worse because The Flood were after me at the same time. The worst I’ve been stuck recently was the Bell Gargoyles fight in Dark Souls on first playthrough. I’d hardly get through the door when, if I didn’t get knocked off the roof or fall off the roof myself, the pesky thing would sit on my face and then the second one would join in and barbecue me. The result: failure, over and over again and, with each failed attempt the fear of failure the next time made me panic even more.I think I might have given up but Dark Souls is such a great game that ‘the one more go’ factor kicks in and you just have to carry on. That and the encouragement I got from Plankton 1975 (another GCer) on PlayStation Network made me keep trying and I’m so glad I did. The final victory made all the pain worthwhile.Gill C.Ye olde cheatsThere are a couple of games that spring to mind that I have been stuck at. One of the most annoying was the boss fight with Hades in God Of War III. Up until that point the game was fantastic, but then all of a sudden Hades came along and kicked lumps out of me. I tried several times over the following days and weeks, but I just couldn’t take him down. The game even taunted me by asking if I wanted to play on Easy every so often! Eventually I gave in and played it on Easy, and I finished Hades off in no time.Another game that had me cursing was Driver on the original PlayStation. I really enjoyed the game up until the final mission, where you have to protect the president from hordes of enemy vehicles. To say this mission was impossible was an understatement!It really was infuriating, and I’m not even sure that the game was possible to complete, such was the difficulty. Eventually I gave in, and used an invincibility cheat that I read in one of the games mags out at the time, and completed the game. I’ve got to say I really miss the cheats, and unlockables that were prevalent in that era. Some games could really do with them!Cubes (PSN ID), Cubes1 (Twitter), Cubes73 (Steam, OnLive and Battlelog)

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Your own, personal, AirmanEven though I say so myself I am pretty good at video games so I rarely get stuck for very long. With that in mind then probably the longest I’ve ever been stuck is about two days. That was in Etrian Odyssey II when after beating the final boss I ventured on to the sixth stratum and got my backside handed to me by the monster guarding the door. Basically the sixth stratum is a bonus dungeon though and one that is made up of monsters and traps that are so sadistically evil it makes Dark Souls seem easy.But I didn’t mind. I retooled my party, brought in some new buff-casting characters and away I went. The challenge of beating a game is half the fun for me so long as the game is fair and not throwing you a curveball then I don’t mind being stuck, it’s just an obstacle to overcome. I suppose it comes down to the individual game but the accomplishment factor also drives me on. That or OCD!I do (and please don’t think I’m being patronising here) sympathise with gamers who struggle though. I’ve just read through MSV’s reader feature on choke points again and have to agree that there is no need for difficulty to stand in the way of enjoyment. A well designed game offers choices and prevents frustration. There shouldn’t be a cut-off point at which games cease being fun and the only way forward is via a guide. No-one should be left to face their own personal Airman .andy_b720 (PSN ID)

World’s slowest typistOne of the later missions in Nintendo 64 Goldeneye was called Control I think. In it you had to evade/shoot security cameras, gun turrets and enemies. This was difficult but do-able after playing it a few times. However, the end of level involved protecting Natalya (I think she was called) as she spent seemingly hours faffing about on a computer while enemies spawn from everywhere.I could regularly reach that point with full health and full armour but that final onslaught was insane. I was killed dozens of times when she’d finally finished and we were inches away from the exit lift. I eventually made it but it nearly gave me Tourette’s Syndrome. I hated that Natalya I did.Chevy_Malibu (PSN ID)Novel experienceI never thought the whole rock, paper, scissors element of the magic spells in Eternal Darkness was explained properly in the game or the manual. It was only when I got the guide that it made sense. There was one part I was stuck on because I couldn’t kill a particular creature as I wasn’t enchanting my weapons correctly. Once the guide helped me with that I didn’t really need to consult the guide again in order to complete it.I did find the guide to be a good read anyway though. I’ve read it a few times in fact. I’d rather read the guide and be reminded of what I did in the game rather than play the game again. Not that it’s a bad game, far from it, but it’s quicker to have a browse through the book and relive the experience that way.MrtankthreatBack to the beginningThe longest I’ve ever been stuck on a computer game is 12 years with Zelda: Majora’s Mask. I’ve completed every home console Zelda game since A Link To The Past but not Majora’s Mask. I didn’t find it particularly difficult but the pain of restarting dungeons from scratch kills it every time.Honourable mentions to the ‘lucky penny’ puzzle in Eternal Darkness (I tried it about eight times before it worked I swear!) and the ‘pick up dog’ puzzle in Simon The Sorcerer 2.NintenjojoPS: I wish people would stop hating on the wii u before it’s even out. I am waiting for reviews before deciding when to buy it but 2 player coop and off tv play have sold me on it already.Within the rulesI remember Ultimecia, in Final Fantasy Vlll being a particular hard case, which after the annoyingly hard battle with Adel in the Lunatic Pandora facility I just about could not take any more, so I left it for a considerably long time.I then browsed a guide and came across two islands called Island closest to Heaven and Island closest to Hell. All these had the most powerful draw powers like Meteor, Quake and Ultima. If you use a no random enemy attack power, as the enemies on these islands are tough, you can walk around these small islands and draw away with joy, and come back a while to try again.Put these powers to use in conjunction with you HP and MP, and fighting the end bosses is more a joy than a chore, in fact, not powering up through random battles makes a blessed change of gameplay. So no cheating here, just using the game’s set-up and what’s already there and manipulating it to my advantage.AlucardJoin the clubBeen gaming for twenty seven years and still can’t finish Ghosts ‘N Goblins first time round, let alone second!JowbullmanE-mail your comments to:gamecentral@ukmetro.co.ukThe small printNew Inbox updates appear twice daily, every weekday morning and afternoon. Letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.